


Home

by rusty_armour



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Episode Tag, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-22
Updated: 2009-12-22
Packaged: 2017-10-05 01:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/36152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rusty_armour/pseuds/rusty_armour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Doggett thought his troubles had ended when he managed to escape from the subway tunnels, but he hadn't counted on the not-so-gentle ministrations of Special Agent Scully, MD.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set after "Medusa" and was partly inspired by Mary Greten's "Housecall". However, it was my mom who sparked the idea when she asked just what Scully meant when she said, "Let's go home." *g*
> 
> © 2001

_"We've got victims. Dead bodies." _

_"Infected by a pathogen of unknown entiology. Look, Agent Doggett, a criminal charge isn't going to stick. These guys were just doing their job: keeping the trains running. They've got you to thank, and not just for saving their butts." _

_"No, you figured it out. I was just your eyes and ears...Agent Scully-" _

_"Let's go home." _

  
_______________________________

  
As Doggett followed Scully through the hospital and out into the parking lot, he dreamed about the long bath he was going to take back at the hotel. He'd lie there until every taut muscle relaxed and his joints no longer ached. He'd lie there until his skin pruned and the water started to go cold. Then Doggett remembered. His room didn't have a bath but a shower stall.

Well, a nice hot shower would be good too. His skin wouldn't prune and the water wouldn't turn cold as it did when he had a long soak in the bath: a long, luxurious soak in the bath. Doggett held back a sigh.

They reached the car, and Doggett searched his pockets for the keys. Ah, of course. She would have them. He tried to grab them from Scully's hand, but she pulled them away.

"You've got to be kidding, Agent Doggett."

"What?"

"You've just been released from the hospital. You're in no condition to drive."

"Then why did they release me?"

"Probably because they assumed I'd be driving."

"But I'm okay, aren't I?"

"For a man who has survived a deadly flesh-eating contagion and has sustained a possible concussion, I'd say you're holding up pretty well, Agent Doggett."

"But...?"

"As you may recall, the nurse gave you some painkillers and warned you not to get behind the wheel of a car or operate any heavy machinery..."

"All right, all right. Point taken."

Doggett walked around to the passenger side of the car, and Scully tried not to smile as he grumbled on the way.

"Don't forget to buckle up," said Scully.

"Yeah, yeah." Doggett did up his seat-belt with a loud click, while Scully struggled to push the driver's seat in the right position, one in which she could reach the pedals. "You know, it's only about a 5-minute drive to the hotel," said Doggett. "I'm pretty sure I can handle it. It's not too late to change your mind."

Scully turned the key in the ignition. Doggett shrugged and leaned back, closing his eyes.

Maybe it was the painkillers, but he was feeling wiped out. He started sinking and soon he was lost.

Doggett jerked awake as Scully's foot hit the break.

Scully swore under her breath at the driver who had just cut her off. Then she noticed that her partner's eyes were open. "Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you, Agent Doggett."

"Uh...that's okay." Doggett was looking at the passing scenery with a wrinkled brow. "I know I took a blow to the head back in those tunnels, but shouldn't we have reached the hotel by now?"

"We're not driving to the hotel," said Scully, glancing at Doggett briefly before her eyes returned to the road. "I checked us out while you were in the hospital. Your bag's in the trunk."

"We're driving back to Washington tonight?" asked Doggett in surprise.

"You said you wanted to go home. Besides, it's pretty hard to take a long bath when all you've got is a shower stall."

Doggett stared at her, but Scully's eyes remained fixed on the road.

"You don't have to do this, Scully," said Doggett.

"Yes, I do. I owe you."

"No, you don't owe me anything. I was just doing my job."

"And you did it very well."

"Yeah, sure. I did a great job. I destroyed all your evidence for you," replied Doggett sarcastically.

Scully turned to him sharply. "In case you've forgotten, you saved lives down there. That's much more important."

Doggett nodded reluctantly, not entirely convinced. As Scully continued driving, Doggett could tell by the intense expression on her face that she was still back in that control room arguing with Karras.

  


* * * * 

  
"Agent Doggett."

"Hmmm...?" Someone was shaking his shoulder.

"Wake up, sleepyhead, we're home."

Doggett's eyes flew open in surprise. They had been driving through Pennsylvania the last time he'd been awake. He sat up groggily, rubbing his eyes. Sure enough, they were sitting in his driveway. Doggett smiled sheepishly and unbuckled his seat-belt.

"Thanks for driving me home. I'm sorry I was such lousy company." Doggett stepped out of the car and walked to the trunk to retrieve his luggage. He was halfway to his front door before he noticed that Scully was standing on his porch, waiting for him. He lifted an eyebrow. "You want a nightcap, Agent Scully?"

"No, not particularly, Agent Doggett."

"Oh." Doggett fished around for his house keys.

Scully didn't move.

"You know, I'm pretty sure I can unlock this door all by myself," said Doggett.

"I have complete faith in you, Agent Doggett."

"Uh huh." He inserted his key in the lock. Scully was still standing there. The door swung open, and Doggett switched on the lights. "No little green aliens," he announced.

"They're grey," said Scully.

"Right. Okay." Doggett put down his bag and glanced at his answering machine. No red blinking light. He turned around. No Scully either. "Agent Scully?" he called.

"In here," answered Scully.

"Where's here?" muttered Doggett. He walked into the living room, expecting to see her there. Then he thought he heard a noise in the kitchen. Scully had her head in his fridge.

"Uh...what are you doing?" asked Doggett.

"Looking in your fridge."

"Find anything interesting?"

"Agent Doggett, I'm having trouble finding anything at all!"

Doggett leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. "I was going to pick up some things on the way home," he said with a grimace. "There must be something in there."

"There's a bottle of ketchup, a carton of orange juice and half an onion."

"Oh, well, I wasn't all that hungry anyway."

Scully closed the fridge door and started to go through his cupboards.

"Hey, do you mind?" said Doggett.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do mind. This is a kitchen. You must have something to eat in here!"

Doggett dropped to his haunches, opened a cupboard door, and extracted two tins of baked beans.  
"There you go. See? I told you there had to be something."

Scully didn't look impressed. "I'm ordering pizza. Why don't you take that long bath you were talking about?"

Doggett stared at her. "You're ordering pizza?"

"Yes, I'm ordering pizza."

"I see." Doggett placed the two tins back in the cupboard, turning his back on Scully. "Look, it's really sweet of you, but I can take care of myself. I'm a big boy. You don't have to do this."

"Actually, I do. They would only release you from the hospital on one condition: that you were released into my care."

Doggett's head snapped around. "What?"

"You might have a concussion. If they had had their way, they would have kept you overnight for observation. However, because I'm a doctor-"

"Why am I only hearing about this now?"

"I thought you might object."

"You're damn right! I do object! No offence, Agent Scully, but I feel absolutely fine. As enjoyable as your company might be, I don't need it."

"And is this your opinion as a trained physician, Agent Doggett?"

"No, it's an opinion from someone who knows his own body well enough to know that it's working just fine."

"Well, if that's the case, what do you think your body wants on its pizza?" asked Scully, heading for the phone.

"God, you're so pig-headed!" yelled Doggett.

"Me?" exclaimed Scully with a laugh. "I'm not the one who was screaming at every nurse in the hospital."

"I-!" shouted Doggett. Then he lowered his voice. "I wasn't screaming. I just raised my voice a little."

"You're the worst patient I've ever seen!"

"And it's taken me years of training to earn that status," quipped Doggett.

"I'm ordering pizza, Agent Doggett. Go take a bath." Scully stood with her hands on her hips, unwilling to back down. One man had already defied her authority today. She wasn't about to tolerate the same behaviour from another.

Doggett threw up his hands in surrender. "Fine. You win. I'll go take a bath."

Scully nodded curtly and started flipping through the phone book.

"Do you think I'm well enough to draw my own bath, Agent Scully? Maybe you'd better do it for me."

Scully looked up from the phone book and glared at her partner. "If you're not in that bathroom in the next 30 seconds, I'll throw you in head first."

"All right, I'm going! I'm going!"

  


* * * * 

  
Doggett slipped down into the water with a contented sigh. He had dumped the remains of a three-year-old bottle of bubble bath into the tub. Some relative had given it to him as a present. He couldn't remember which relative or what the occasion had been and, at the moment, it didn't seem to matter. All that mattered was his bath. Everything outside of it was immaterial.

He sank down deeper and closed his eyes. Then his head jerked up as he heard a knock.

"You okay, Agent Doggett?" came Scully's voice through the door.

"No, I've drowned," answered Doggett.

"Just checking. I'll fish out the corpse later."

"You do that." Doggett closed his eyes again and, for a long time, the only sound he heard was the lapping of bathwater.

  


* * * * 

  
There was another knock on the door.

"Still okay, Agent Doggett?" asked Scully.

"No, my back needs scrubbing," said Doggett, his eyes still closed. He chuckled quietly to himself when Scully chose not to reply. "Are you okay, Agent Scully?"

"Yes, I'm fine, Agent Doggett."

Doggett sat bolt upright, a wave of water splashing over the side of the tub. Scully was standing in the bathroom. "What the hell do you think you're doing in here? Get out!"

"You said your back needed scrubbing," replied Scully, closing the door.

"For Christ's sake! I was joking, Scully!"

Scully smiled and walked closer to the tub. Doggett drew his legs up to his chest and tried to reach for his towel.

"What's wrong?" asked Scully. "Don't tell me you're shy."

"Yes! Very!"

Scully was now kneeling at the side of the tub. "I only caught a quick peek of you in that hospital gown. I was hoping to see more. "

Doggett's eyes widened as Scully reached into the bath.

"There you go." Scully had retrieved his missing bar of soap. While Doggett tried to decide if he was relieved or disappointed, Scully began to rub the soap between her hands. Then she reached towards Doggett to lather his back...

"Damn it!" yelled Doggett as there was another knock at the door. "Who the hell is it now?"

"Agent Doggett! Agent Doggett, can you hear me?" demanded the voice on the other side of the door.

"Scully...?"

  


* * * * 

  
Doggett woke with a start. Scully was pounding on the door, calling his name.

"I'm okay," called Doggett. "I...uh...I just fell asleep."

"Well, if you're going to do that, use your bed!"

"Yeah, I'll try to remember that next time," said Doggett. "I'm getting out of the bath now. That is unless you want to come in and scrub my back."

There was a long pause on the other side of the door.

"I think you must have been hit harder on the head than anyone realized, Agent Doggett."

  


* * * * 

  
Agent Doggett walked into the living room in a t-shirt and track pants. An open pizza box sat on the coffee table. He smiled slightly when he noticed that at least four slices were already gone.

"I was hungry," said Scully, somewhat defensively.

"I like a woman with a healthy appetite. I'm surprised you didn't lose it after spending the day with Karras." Doggett plucked a slice of pizza from the box.

"It doesn't have anchovies," stated Scully.

"Thanks. I appreciate that." Doggett stretched out on the couch, one leg dangling over the side.

"I was about to get another glass of water. Would you like one?"

"Only if you promise to keep it in the glass this time."

"I think I can manage that." Scully went into the kitchen, and Doggett chewed on his pizza thoughtfully. Well, the situation wasn't as awkward or uncomfortable as he imagined it might be. It was almost casual, or as casual as things were ever likely to be between him and Scully.

"Here you go." Scully had returned from the kitchen and was handing him a glass of water. Doggett lifted it to his lips and froze, remembering the salt-water pathogen from the Boston subway system. He glanced at Scully, who was studying him with an amused but sympathetic expression. She lifted her own glass and took a large sip. Doggett did likewise.

"How are you feeling?" asked Scully.

"Okay," said Doggett, taking another bite of pizza.

"Any headache? Dizziness?" Doggett didn't answer for a moment. "Doggett?" Scully prompted.

"Slight headache," Doggett admitted.

"Well, that's not unusual given the fact that-"

"I have a concussion?"

"A _possible_ concussion."

"Ah." Doggett took another sip of water and eyed the pizza box on the table. "Well, I think I'll now have a possible slice of pizza." Doggett leaned across the gap from the couch to the table then quickly leaned back again. "Oh...I think I just had a Jimmy Stewart moment."

"Dizziness?"

"Uh huh."

Scully stood up and walked over to the couch. "No, sit still," she said. She bent over and proceeded to examine Doggett's eyes.

"What's the diagnosis, doc?"

"Both pupils are fine."

"So I'm fine?"

"That depends."

"Depends on what?"

Scully wandered around the room for a minute, finally stopping in front of the certificates and plaques hanging on one wall. "What rank did you hold in the army?"

"It was the Marine Corps, not the army, and I was a sergeant."

"What city were we just in?"

"Is this for real?" asked Doggett with a laugh.

Scully wasn't laughing.

"Boston," said Doggett.

"What year did you graduate from the Academy?"

"I'll choose 1995 for 500, Alex."

"Great. You're fine," stated Scully, returning to her chair.

"I'm so glad to hear that. Would you mind telling me what that was all about?"

"I was checking to see if your brain was still working. Sometimes an injury to the head tears certain structures in the brain, including blood vessels. This can interrupt the messages travelling within the brain. One symptom of concussion is memory loss or forgetfulness. As the brain swells, the patient can experience confusion or drowsiness. If the patient becomes confused or is difficult to wake, he or she must be given medical attention immediately. By asking you simple questions, I can monitor these symptoms more effectively."

"Hold on. When you asked me for my address in Pennsylvania, the one I thought you already knew, you were just testing for concussion?"

"Uh...yes."

"And when you called Lieutenant Bianco 'Sergeant Bracco,' that was a test too?"

"'Fraid so."

"What would you have done if I had gotten any of those questions wrong?"

"Driven you to the nearest hospital."

"Guess I'd better keep on my toes, then," said Doggett, covering his mouth in an attempt to stifle a yawn.

Scully crossed the room again and stood beside the couch. "You're tired. You should go to bed."

"If I do, will you go home?"

"You know I can't do that."

"Then I'm staying right here."

"You need to sleep, Doggett."

"And you don't?"

Scully placed her hands on her hips, unwilling to back down. "If I get really tired, I'll crash on the couch."

"The bed will be free. You can crash there."

"No, you'll be sleeping in the bed, Agent Doggett."

"If you say so," countered Doggett with a huge yawn.

Suddenly, Scully grabbed Doggett's arm and, with more strength than he would have given her credit for, hauled him to his feet.

"I guess I'm going to bed," said Doggett. "All right, I remember how to walk!" Doggett managed to extricate his arm from Scully's firm grasp and moved out of the living room. "Do you mind if I take a call?"

Scully's forehead creased in confusion. "The phone isn't ringing."

"No, I was thinking of a different call, a call of nature," said Doggett, coming to a halt outside the bathroom. Scully blushed and nodded, and Doggett stepped inside.

When Doggett emerged again, he expected to see Scully standing there with crossed arms, stamping her foot impatiently.

"Agent Scully?" Doggett called.

"In the bedroom."

Doggett laughed loudly. "Lord, I never thought I'd hear those words coming from your lips, Agent Scully!"

"Ha. Funny," answered Scully.

Doggett walked into his bedroom. "Find anything?" he asked. "A pair of handcuffs lying where they shouldn't be?"

Scully ignored him, pulling back the sheets on his bed. Doggett couldn't believe it. She was going to tuck him in.

"Uh...I think I can take care of things from this point on. Thanks for everything. Good night."

"Get in, Agent Doggett. Now." Scully's voice was stern. She wasn't taking no for an answer. Doggett sighed and climbed into bed. He had barely laid his head against the pillows when Scully pulled the sheets up around him.

"Those are some maternal instincts you've got," grumbled Doggett as Scully folded the covers over his shoulders.

Scully froze and stared at Doggett, a peculiar expression on her face. "Really...? Do you really think so?" She sounded nervous but also excited.

"Uh..." Doggett had originally intended to tell her that she'd be a good mother because she had the nagging part down pat. He couldn't and wouldn't say that now.

"Yeah," said Doggett at last. "I think you'll make some lucky kid a great mom one day."

Scully put a hand to her head for a moment, obscuring her face.

"Agent Scully?"

Scully slowly removed the hand. Her eyes were shining as if she were trying to hold back tears. "Thank you," she whispered and, to Doggett's surprise, she bent down and kissed his bruised cheek.

"What...what was that for?" asked Doggett, bewildered.

Scully smiled but said nothing. She walked to the door and flicked off the light.

"Agent Scully!"

"Good night, Doggett." Scully turned and disappeared, leaving her confused partner lying in the dark.

"Well, if that isn't the damnedest thing," said Doggett.


End file.
